WEEK 150: TRUST THE PROCESS

We trust our process. We don't get scared and say "Oh, no, this (film) isn't working."    John Lasseter

REFLECTIONS (learnings and actions): Have you ever undertaken a challenging task or goal?

You did you feel in the first week?

Highly motivated, engaged, like nothing could stop you.

But...

How about in week 6 when the pressure builds and everything around you is telling you to quit?

What did you feel then?

Stress, overwhelm, pain...

Additionally, there is more temptation to get out of the "ring."

Yet this is the time, week 6, not week 1 where you need to focus and trust the process!

I have talked about the idea of being a "pro" last week and this is one of the main reasons they are "pros!"

They trust the process.

Not only when it is easy, when everything is working out, but the times when they are saying "what the hell is going on."

Why?

Because they know it is the right thing to do.

Yet...

I see it too often.

High performers who throw in the towel right before their break.

The secret to achieving success is persistence. 

Trust the process.  

Og Mandino (check his stuff out if you want to up-level your life) said

"The prizes of life are at the end of the journey not near the beginning. It is not given to me exact amount of steps that are necessary in order to reach my goal. Failure I might encounter at the 1000th step, but yet success hides behind the the next bend in the road. Never will I know how close it lies until I turn the corner. "

Now, I am not going into detail of how the find the "process" for you, but know it starts with clarity.

What do you want?

Figure that out and invest in learning vicariously through someone else's mistakes. 

BUT...

Do not get lulled into a myth that everything will work out just by investing into a program. 

Trust me, I have been there. 

"If you buy the program the rest will magically fall into place."

A bunch of BS.

Yes the first step is the investment, but then you have to do the work.

It is like buying a membership to an exclusive gym, yet you never go, but expect the fat to roll of your body to reveal your amazing psyique.

Hate to bust your bubble, but it does not work that way.

You have to have 100% conviction, not effort, in the process. 

Actually effort, discipline, determination, etc have nothing to do with it.

Why?

To highlight my point let's talk about something everybody struggles with.

Your weight...duh, duh, duh

Does this story sound familiar?

You get the motivation to start eating healthier and working out. 

You find a program.You are really excited about it and follow it to a T for the first day.

Then the second.

The novelty is starting to wear off, but you continue the third day.

By the fourth day you start "getting" tired of the same thing and start thinking you might be able to deviate from the program "a little."

But...

You still keep with it. 

Yet it gets harder and harder to "stick with the process" and easier and easier to revert back to your old ways.

But you stay disciplined and determined. 

Yet...

A stressor a colleague yells at you, you spill something on your new pants, your spouse looks at you funny in the morning...and the wheels fall off!

You binge on the all the things you have deprived yourself.

Then once the dust settles you feel guilty, shameful, and altogether disgusted. 

But what about the effort, the discipline, the determination...why didn't those help you stick with the process?

You had no conviction.

And you might argue that you were good most of the time, but just that one cheat meal.

But here is secret I want to share, 95% conviction is like 0% conviction.

That last 5% will defeat you every time.

You know what I am talking about, as you keep getting stuck in the vicious cycle of making progress and not fully achieving what you want. 

Want to achieve your greatest goals?

It is simple...have 100% conviction and trust the process!

Not only when it is easy, but when it is burning!

Do the right thing and know what you feel is only temporary (it will pass).

The results if you trust the process?

You cross the threshold and step into a higher version of yourself!

A higher version of yourself who gets to enjoy the satisfaction of achieving what you set out to!

Top three activities that move me forward?

1. Atlas Rituals.

2. Having 100% conviction!

3. Zen. Continuing learning...I know what load days should look like now. 

Biggest lessons/learnings and corrections?

Having 100% conviction is the ability to release CONTROL and surrender to your true self where anything is possible!

What are you grateful for?

The abundance to enjoy a birthday weekend with my amazing wife!

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PLANNING (Implementation Intention):  You will follow through 2X to 3X more likely to complete your weekly task than you normally would just by filling in the following statement.

I plan to complete the weekly task [day] at [time] in [location]. 

A reminder you might have to use multiple Implementation Intentions in order to follow through.

EXECUTION (strategies used):  From week to week, I use a combination of many strategies. There are always some which are used more than others depending on what comes up, but I wanted to offer a link to all them at once. 

My advice is to identify the I CAN'T statement you tell yourself during the most. Then find a strategy below the statement which resonates with you, and then start using it. 

Enjoy!

STRATEGY LIST